Marcelo Claure

CEO, Sprint

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Marcelo Claure is President and CEO of Sprint. He joined Sprint in August 2014 and is guiding the company through one of the most iconic turnarounds in U.S. corporate history. Under his leadership, Sprint has become an aggressive, agile and innovative competitor in the wireless industry. He has injected an entrepreneurial spirit into the 117-year old company, rejuvenating employee engagement and generating solid results, including millions of new connections and new records quarter after quarter in improved customer retention.

Marcelo embodies the successful pursuit of the American Dream. He immigrated to the United States from Bolivia and later became a U.S. citizen. His American entrepreneurial story began when he bought a retail wireless business and rapidly expanded the organization in the northeastern United States. He built on that success by transforming Brightstar Corp., a startup he founded in 1997 in Miami, into a multibillion-dollar, global operation that became the largest Hispanic-owned business in the United States. Brightstar grew to become a $10 billion global business in 2013 and the largest global wireless distribution and services company in the telecommunications industry.

Marcelo is a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum and a member of Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year Hall of Fame. CNET en Español named him one of the Top 20 Most Influential Latinos in Technology for 2015, and he was previously recognized as 2011 Hispanic Businessman of the Year by the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and Entrepreneur of the Year by Hispanic Business Magazine. In 2016 he was among 42 individuals selected by the Carnegie Corporation of New York as part of the “Great Immigrants: The Pride of America” initiative recognizing notable contributions to the progress of our society.

Giving back to those in need is one of Marcelo’s top priorities. More than a decade ago, he recognized the power of creating opportunities out of obstacles by providing disadvantaged children with laptops connected to the internet. He’s a co-founder of One Laptop Per Child, an organization dedicated to providing boys and girls in impoverished communities with low-cost laptops. Marcelo also serves as a board member of My Brother’s Keeper Alliance, a nonprofit organization working to eliminate opportunity gaps for young men of color.

In 2014, Marcelo’s passion for soccer led him to partner with David Beckham and Simon Fuller to launch Miami Beckham United, a venture to establish a Major League Soccer franchise in Miami. He also currently owns BAISA, which operates Club Bolivar, the most popular soccer team in Bolivia.

Marcelo earned a Bachelor of Science in Economics and Finance in 1993 and an honorary Doctorate of Commercial Science from Bentley University in Massachusetts. He is a member of the 2016 Class of Henry Crown Fellows and the Aspen Global Leadership Network at the Aspen Institute. He has been elected to serve as chairman of CTIA – The Wireless Association in 2017.